adethic.net

What adethic.net does

AdEthic S.r.l. is an Italian ethical online advertising network founded in 2013 and headquartered in Rome, operating as a subsidiary of Fondazione per l'Evangelizzazione attraverso i Media (FEM), a Catholic-aligned media foundation also associated with the Aleteia Network. The company runs a digital advertising marketplace that connects ethically-vetted advertisers with publishers whose audiences align with its content standards, supported by an Ethics Committee that oversees acceptable content and advertisers. The platform is localized in Italian, English, French, and Spanish, and operates under a formal Ethics Code that distinguishes it from mainstream ad networks.

The core product is the AdEthic advertising network, built on Google's DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) ad-serving technology and integrated with Google AdSense, Google AdExchange, and Weborama for remarketing. The platform supports standard IAB ad units, CPC, CPM, CPS, and CPL pricing models, a self-serve publisher dashboard (cPanel), and a registration wizard for onboarding. A dedicated sub-brand, AdCath, serves Catholic-specific publishers and advertisers as a distinct vertical within the network. Targeting and audience capabilities are delivered through third-party infrastructure (DFP Audience, Weborama) rather than proprietary AI/ML.

The business model is a 50/50 revenue share with publishers on usage-based pricing (CPC, CPM, CPS, CPL), with the majority of remaining profits directed to charity and solidarity projects. Customers are predominantly small advertisers and SMBs (e.g., FunnelFlex.ai, Flisk Dating, WellDoneBy, Hygger, Cuspy Software, Tune2Love), and the publisher base is a long tail of small publishers onboarded via self-serve tools. The combination of mission-driven branding, content policy enforcement, and charitable profit deployment functions as the company's primary commercial differentiator within its niche.

Name

adethic.net

Legal name

AdEthic S.r.l.

Website

https://adethic.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Short description

AdEthic S.r.l. is a Rome-based ethical online advertising network, founded 2013 as a subsidiary of FEM/Aleteia, serving ethically-vetted publishers and SMB advertisers via Google DFP-based ad serving, with profits directed to charity.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Advertising Network

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181), Other Services Related to Advertising (541890), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Brand Safety, Fraud Detection & Ad Verification (BPAMALAN)

Keywords

• Ethical advertising network
• Online ad network
• Publisher ad serving
• Advertiser campaign platform
• Catholic media advertising

Headquarters

HQ city

Rome

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Publisher Revenue Share (CPC/CPM): AdEthic shares 50% of advertising revenue with publishers. Publishers earn through Cost Per Click (CPC) when users click ads, and Cost Per Mille (CPM) when ads are displayed. Revenue is calculated based on valid clicks, valid impressions, referral events, and other advertising-related events on the publisher's properties.
2. Advertiser Campaign Fees: Advertisers pay to have their campaigns displayed within the AdEthic ethical advertising network. The network serves ads to publisher websites that meet the ethical criteria defined in the AdEthic Code of Ethics.
3. Referral Programs (CPS/CPL): AdEthic offers Cost Per Sale (CPS) and Cost Per Lead (CPL) referral programs where publishers can earn commissions when users complete purchases or fill out registration forms after clicking referral buttons.
4. Charitable Portion of Profits: AdEthic dedicates the majority of profits (minus operational costs and taxes) to charitable and solidarity projects, selected by the Ethics Committee. This is a core part of the business model rather than a revenue stream.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

AdEthic operates an ethical online advertising network that connects website publishers with advertisers and agencies. Publishers monetize websites by embedding ad units (text links, banners in IAB-standard sizes), earning a 50% revenue share on CPC, CPM, CPS, and CPL campaigns. Advertisers and agencies run campaigns in a curated ethical inventory that excludes adult, violent, and gambling content, and a portion of profits is allocated to international charity and solidarity projects selected by an Ethics Committee.

Product overview

AdEthic is an ethical online advertising network that transforms advertising into solidarity. The core platform is the AdEthic Network, which operates two advertising formats: the lay-ethical AdEthic format and the Catholic-specific AdCath format. Publishers access the cPanel dashboard to manage ad units (text links, banners in IAB-standard sizes), monitor real-time statistics (Revenues, RPC, RPM), and generate tracking codes. The Registration Wizard enables onboarding as Publisher, Advertiser, Agency, or Beneficiary. All operations are supervised by an Ethics Committee, and a portion of profits supports international charity projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AdCath: Catholic advertising format within the AdEthic network, offering advertising consistent with Catholic values and expectations.
• AdEthic

Products and services

• AdEthic Network Core ethical online advertising network that aggregates publisher ad inventory and matches it with advertisers, offering CPC, CPM, CPS, and CPL pricing models under Ethics Committee oversight.
• AdCath
• Publisher Dashboard (cPanel) Self-serve publisher control panel for creating ad units, generating HTML ad codes, viewing real-time revenues and statistics (RPC, RPM), exporting reports (HTML, XLS, CSV), and managing payment information.
• Charitable Beneficiary Program Program through which non-profits, foundations, and charitable organizations apply to receive support from AdEthic's allocation of advertising profits, with selection overseen by the Ethics Committee.
• Agency Partnership Program Program through which advertising and marketing agencies join the network to run ethically positioned client campaigns, combine ROI with Social Return on Investment (SROI), and submit client CSR projects for solidarity and charity budget support.

Quantifiable outcome

• Publishers receive 50% revenue share on all advertising displayed on their sites
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fondazione per l'Evangelizzazione attraverso i Media (FEM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFEM is the parent foundation of AdEthic. AdEthic was developed as part of Aleteia, the Catholic Church's new media project promoted by FEM. FEM provides the institutional backing and mission alignment for the ethical advertising network focused on solidarity and evangelization.
• DoubleClick (Google)coreTechnology or IntegrationAdEthic uses Google DoubleClick (DFP - DoubleClick For Publishers) for ad serving, ad optimization, and audience management. This technology partnership enables maximized publisher revenue, access to Google's advertiser network, and multiple ad format support including integration with AdSense and AdExchange.
• Aleteia NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAleteia is the Catholic media network of which AdEthic is a part. The network includes Catholic websites and media outlets that share the mission of spreading Christian message online. AdEthic was conceived within the framework of Aleteia.
• Catholic.netminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCatholic.net is listed as one of the other members from the ecclesial world associated with AdEthic, contributing to the Catholic network ecosystem.
• Marco FrattinicoreOthersCo-founding partner of AdEthic, bringing expertise from the Catholic professional world specialized in digital communication and advertising.
• Silvio OttanellicoreOthersCo-founding partner of AdEthic, contributing to the development of the ethical advertising initiative within the Catholic media ecosystem.
• Andrea SalvaticoreOthersCo-founding partner and General Manager of AdEthic. Serves as Data Controller for personal data processing under Italian privacy law. Dr. Salvati is a key leader driving the company's mission.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Taboola: Large native advertising and content recommendation network serving publishers globally. Comparable to AdEthic as a publisher monetization channel competing for the same ad inventory, though focused on content-discovery rather than ethical positioning.
• Outbrain: Global native advertising network similar in scale and publisher model to Taboola. Comparable to AdEthic as a publisher monetization incumbent with vastly larger demand and reach.
• Google AdSense: The dominant contextual ad network for small and medium publishers, integrated directly into AdEthic's stack via DFP. Comparable as the underlying demand and ad-serving layer AdEthic depends on, and the primary alternative for many publishers.

Direct peers

• Mediavine: Full-service ad management for content publishers, providing header bidding, optimization, and reporting through a publisher dashboard. Comparable to AdEthic in publisher revenue-share model and emphasis on quality content environments.
• Adsterra: Global ad network offering display, pop-under, and native ad units to publishers with a self-serve dashboard. Comparable to AdEthic in self-serve publisher model and multi-format ad serving, though without AdEthic's ethical content governance.
• BuySellAds: Self-serve ad marketplace connecting publishers with advertisers via direct and programmatic placements. Comparable to AdEthic as a smaller-publisher-focused ad network with self-serve onboarding and multiple pricing models (CPC, CPM, flat).
• Infolinks: Self-serve ad network offering in-text, in-fold, and display ad units to publishers worldwide. Comparable to AdEthic in multi-format ad serving, self-serve onboarding, and revenue-share economics for independent publishers.
• Ezoic: AI-driven ad optimization platform for publishers using multivariate testing to maximize revenue. Comparable to AdEthic as a publisher-side monetization layer integrated with Google ad exchange demand.
• Carbon Ads: An ethical online ad network focused on the design and developer community, selecting advertisers and publishers based on values alignment. Closely comparable to AdEthic in mission and self-serve publisher monetization model, though targeting a different vertical community.
• Sovrn: Publisher monetization platform offering ad serving, demand access, and analytics to independent publishers. Comparable to AdEthic in serving mid-market and small publishers with revenue-share economics and a publisher dashboard.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about adethic.net